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FIGHT AGAINST BLINDNESS |
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FIGHT AGAINST BLINDNESS |
Toward Light Nepal is making progress in
its fight against blindness By A CORRESPONDENT Nepal has made significant progress in the
last two decades in eye-care services. At present, there are 17 eye hospitals and 32
district eye care centers covering 40 districts of the country. Most of them are run by
Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh (NNJS) and some run by centers such as Tilganga Eye Center, Nepal
Eye Hospital, Lions Eye Care Center, BP Koirala Lions Center for Ophthalmic Studies
(BPKLCOS) etc. Cataract is the leading cause of blindness
in Nepal. But now several camps are run by different institutions even in rural areas
where free cataract surgery services are provided. In fact, the lens produced in Tilganga
Eye Hospital, which has to replace the natural lens in cataract surgery, are of world
class standard and are also exported to countries like Australia. According to Nepal Blindness Survey
conducted in 1981, 0.84 percent of the total population are blind and 1.7 percent blind in
one eye. Over 92 percent of the blinds reside in rural areas. Moreover, 80 percent of the
blindness in Nepal is avoidable, that is, it can either be cured or prevented. Nepal Prevention and Control of Blindness
Project (NPCBP) was established in 1980 jointly by the Nepalese government and World
Health Organization (WHO) with the objectives to achieve national self-reliance in
providing ophthalmic manpower, to provide technical support for the ongoing program so
that it would help in the 90 percent reduction in the prevalence of preventable and
curable blindness from the country. Likewise, NNJS was established in 1978 as a
full-fledged non-governmental social welfare organization to develop all possible
facilities for treatment of eye patients in Nepal under the health coordination committee
of Social Welfare Council. According to Basanta Khadka, officer at the
NPCBP, Nepal does not have a National Eye Care Policy as yet. The WHO has targeted the
VISION 2020 to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020 from the world. Nepal, too,
launched VISION 2020 in 1999. Experts say, the government needs to formulate specific
policies and implement them in order to achieve the goals of VISION 2020. |
Send your feedback to the
editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
